London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Teenager living in fear after rapist Sean Hogg walked free

Teenager living in fear after rapist Sean Hogg walked free

A teenager who was raped when she was 13 is living in fear that her attacker will come after her after he walked free from court.

Sean Hogg was 17 when he attacked the young victim in Dalkeith Country Park on a number of occasions in 2018.

He was convicted of rape earlier this month however, due to new sentencing guidelines for under 25s, he was not jailed and instead given 270 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Lord Lake said if Hogg had committed the crime when he was over 25, he would have given him a jail sentence of four or five years.

His victim, who is anonymous to protect her identity, has now spoken about how the rape and the subsequent sentence, has affected her.

In a statement, she said she was diagnosed with PTSD, suffered from panic attacks and self-harmed on a daily basis following the attacks.

She also said she had undergone three years of counselling.

The teenager, now 18, said CCTV was fitted in her home so she could see who was coming into her street and she would not leave the house without one of her grandparents.

She has suffered from anxiety and nightmares and has had relationship problems.

"The day my grandmother told me Sean Hogg had been found guilty of rape I thought there may be a chance of being happy again. I knew he was going to go to jail," she said.

It took the teenager about six months to tell her grandmother what had happened.

"I felt glad I reported it as I felt he needed to pay for what he had done," she said.

In the run-up to the trial she suffered repeated panic attacks due to "overwhelming" anxiety. When the case was eventually heard, she gave her evidence through a video link.


'He's going to want to hurt me'


"The fact he could see me through a video link made me feel sick," she said. "When I was told he had been found guilty I felt a wave of emotions. I didn't know how to react. I cried, I think I cried with relief.

"I stupidly thought it was finally over, after years of fear I thought now it's his time to feel fear."

However due to the new sentencing guidelines, Hogg, 21, from Hamilton in South Lanarkshire, was ordered to carry out 270 hours of unpaid work. He was also put under supervision and added to the sex offenders register for three years.

On learning about the sentence, his victim said she felt like she couldn't breathe.

"In my head I thought he's going to come for me, he's going to want to hurt me," she said. "I was back to being that 13-year-old wee girl, scared of the unknown.

Judge Lord Lake said that if Hogg had committed the rape when he was over 25 he would have given him a jail sentence of four or five years


"My grandparents felt they had let me down but they didn't. It was the judge that let me down.

"Why is it ok to rape anyone and not go to jail? Why was he allowed to get on with his life when he's clearly ruined mine? Did the judge not bother reading the ordeal I had suffered?

"Now it makes me think why did I even bother reporting the rape in the first place. Nothing happened."

The sentencing has drawn criticism from rape victims and the Rape Crisis charity, while the case has been discussed across the world.

"It was even in the Washington Times, with the people of America asking what's going on in that country," the victim said. "I've seen JK Rowling saying men will think the first time is free. How is this going to help girls in the future who are raped?

"Whoever is in charge of the justice system need to sort this out, you say you care about victims like me but how can a serial rapist receive 270 hours community payback?

"I did not get justice, the system failed me, the judge failed me, he didn't protect me. I had done nothing wrong and yet he is a free man. You let him go but gave me, the victim, a life sentence."


'Terrible mistake'


In an interview with the BBC, the teenager's grandfather said: "I always thought she'd be safe on the streets of this country we live in, but since this has happened I have no respect for the law at all.

"It's been devastating for her. She's had to go through three years of counselling which has helped her immensely. But since this sentence with Lord Lake it's destroyed her again.

"I promised her justice would be done. I've been brought up honest all my life and I thought justice would be served in my country.

"But now with this new ruling they've got, any person under 25 can go out and do any crime they want, however horrendous it may be, and there's a good chance they will get a community payback."

He added: "I feel like I've lied to her - I've let her down - because I promised her he would go to jail.

"I never imagined he'd get community service - picking up paper in a park or sanding down a bench in the park - for raping a child. He's basically walked free."

He said he wanted the Crown Office to re-examine the case as he believed the judge had made a "terrible mistake".

The guidelines for sentencing under-25s were introduced in Scotland in January 2022.

They made rehabilitation rather than punishment a primary consideration, recommending an "individualistic approach" taking into account their life experiences.

First Minister Humza Yousaf said he understood the concerns which had been expressed, but stressed that sentencing was a matter for the judiciary.

A spokesperson for the Crown Office said: "The Crown is currently considering whether there are grounds for lodging an appeal against this sentence."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
×